OU Mourns the Loss of Mr. Zev Wolfson, z”l

Together with all of Klal Yisrael, the Orthodox Union and NCSY, its international youth movement, mourn the passing of Mr. Zev Wolfson, a”h, of Lawrence, NY, at the age of 84. Mr. Wolfson was hailed as one of the greatest baalei tzedakah (philanthropists) of his time.

Amongst his generous support of many Torah and chesed organizations around the world, Mr. Wolfson was deeply committed to NCSY as a vehicle of kiruv (communicating the beauty of an observant Jewish life to the not-yet-observant), a cause to which he devoted both time and resources.

Born in Vilna, Poland, Mr. Wolfson immigrated to America at the age of 17 with his mother and his young brother. He immediately went to work, while sending his brother to yeshiva. He demonstrated a brilliant business mind and became a major New York City real estate developer and astute Wall Street investor.

For many decades, Mr. Wolfson demonstrated tremendous devotion to the furtherance of Jewish education through the Wolfson Foundation. His dogged efforts, supported by prominent authorities in the United States and overseas, helped develop and maintain yeshivot, Bais Yaakovs, day schools, and other projects all over the world, including the United States, Israel, France, Morocco and Russia.

Mr. Wolfson was blessed with a large family, and many grandchildren.

May his memory be for a blessing.

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